The Face of Another
by Uncertainty and a Parasol
Summary: Winry is kidnapped by Envy, disguised as Ed, to be used as a bargaining chip. Written with my friend, TehPandaPatrol, way too late at night, when we should have been sleeping. This may show. Working on editing.


The summer heat of Rush Valley was thick and unmoving, soundless and unstirred. It made every child sit instead of play, and every adult stop their chores and drag their feet. It began at sunrise and ended at sunset.

Winry stood and stepped away from her automail bench and wiped beads of perspiration from her forehead. She peeled off her gloves which had stuck to her like a second skin. She tucked them into her back pocket and pulled her arms from her jumpsuit, tying the sleeves around her waist. Sighing, she turned back to her work bench and collapsed into a heap. It was the second night she had stayed awake through the dark hours truing to complete a set of automail arms for a customer of Mr. Garfiel's. He was gone at the moment, and so was Paninya. Winry was tired and lonely. She fiddled with her earrings, staring vaguely at the automail. Her eyelids drooped lower and lower each time she blinked.

"Winry?" A voice came from the front of the shop.

"Here," she called, too hot to get up.

"Where are you?" The voice finally registered in her mind.

"Ed?" She cried, snapping from her stupor and standing to face the door. He leaned in the doorway, silhouetted in the hazy light.

When her caught sight of her, he wove around the obsticles in the room to her side. He grinned at her and her heart leaped into her throat, as it did whenever he grinned at her, now that she was old enough to feel things like that.

"What-- what are you doing here?" she managed to gasp.

"Well..." He stuttered a little and Winry thought she saw a blush rising in his cheeks.

"Yes?" She prompted. Ed brushed back her bangs that stuck to her cheeks, fingering the last strands of hair. Her heart thumped so loudly, she was sure he could hear it. "Do you need any maintainance?" Winry squeaked, heat flooding her already flushed face.

"No," he shook his head awkwardly. "It's... uh... the automail's fine."

"Then..." She trailed off. "Can we talk while I work? I've got stuff to do." She turned quickly back to her workbench.

"Wait!" As she reached for her wrench, Ed caught her wrist and spun her to faced him again. Winry looked at him in surprise as he firmly cupped the back of her neck. His lips grazed hers lightly. Winry stumbled back in shock.

"Ed..." she stuttered softly. "What--"

"Shh..." He put his finger to her lips, then pulled her back to him by the waist. He kissed her again gently, then ran his lips along her jawline. Winry wrapped her arms aroud Ed's neck as his mouth grew closer to her ear.

"Promise me something," he whispered softly, playing with her hair as he spoke.

"Anything, " she promised. "I've always tried to help you in any way I could."

"Good." A strange laugh escaped his throat, nothing Winry had ever heard from Ed before. She pulled away, startled, as Ed's facial features began to change. His hair turned dark and grew londer, unwinding from its braid. He grew several inches taller. His gold eyes became maroon and his clothes became a tight, belly-baring top and a strange skort. Had she not been terrified, Winry would have laughed at the outfit. The strange man still had his arm around her waist and he pulled her close again, covering her mouth so she couldn't scream.

"What's the matter, Winry? I'm much cuter than Ed. And I'm taller, too," he said. Winry stared at him with panic in her eyes as a small squeak escaped her. She tried to shove him away. He laughed and pulled her closer. In desperation, she grabbed her wrench and brought it down hard on his head. She heard bone crunch. He cried out, releasing her to grasp his bleeding and cracked head. Winry scrambled back as fast as she could. After a moment, the man looked up at her, his head healed.

"You little bitch!" he growled. Winry stumbled over some automail. When she looked down, she saw a replacement for Paninya's left leg, the one with a gun. She picked up the leg and pointed the gun at the man. The man laughed, and he began to change again.

"Winry, Winry. You wouldn't shoot _me_, would you?" To her disbelief, Ed stood before her again. Winry's grip on the weapon loosened and it fell to the floor with a clunk. He was right; she couldn't shoot Ed. The moment she dropped the leg, her head snapped back against the wall, and she realized that his hand was at her throat. She was pinned to the wall by her neck.

"Who are you?" she managed to splutter.

Leaning toward her, his face inches from hers, and his expression a gentle smile, he whispered, "I'm Ed, of course." She spat in his eye. His gentle smile became a cruel grin. His grip tightened around her throat. She scrabbled at hes hand, trying unsuccessfully to loosen his grasp. He laughed playfully, a cocky grin on Ed's face.

"I can see why Ed likes you so much," Winry paused at the mention of his name. "You're a feisty one."

Winry coughed. The man frowned, then laughed, loosening his chokehold. "Oh. I'm not supposed to kill you." He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a cloth. He held it over Winry's nose and the edges of her vision blurred.

"Don't worry. You'll just be unconscious. And you might wake up with a headache." The man continued to speak, but Winry wasn't paying attention as her eyes fluttered and rolled back in her head.


End file.
